Cornell & Diehl Jolly Old St. Nicholas 2022

I love Christmas blends! There, I said it. I will buy and not smoke most due to the over cased/topped tendency of most blenders but C&D stands out in this regard. A Va/Per with cavendish and casing? Hell yes! The room note is usually the star of these but the scant amount of perique that avoided my old tongue is present in the room note, although more the next day than while smoking. It has a pleasant room note while the smoke hangs in the air like wreath's. The Cavendish is the star player and but the VA's do provide some grassy and citrus notes. The Cavendish is sweet and the topping is a light Vanilla/Honey flavor to my palate. I cannot detect the Perique at all on the tongue but in the retrohale there is a little tingle. Solid tobacco for the Christmas season.

With the holiday season right around the corner thought I'd give this a try and glad I did. I normally don't smoke aromatics, this one is made up of high quality tobacco with a topping that actually enhances rather than detracts from the tobacco. The citrus from the Virginia is amplified by the orange liquor flavoring, while the Cavendish adds some sweetness, especially with the ginger topping. Rather than spicy, the perique adds undertones of fig. To me the flavors remained consistent throughout the bowl. It is never boring and could serve as a multiple bowl smoke throughout the day. I must point out I am surprised the community has this blend typed as a Virginia/Perique. The orange liquor, ginger smell is obvious on opening the tin and remains with you throughout the bowl. This strikes me as an aromatic and if you are looking for the expected VA/PER experience this is not it. However it is a pleasant smoke using good quality tobacco with toppings that actually enhance the taste. As I said, I'm not an aromatic guy, but this one hits the mark and I would recommend.

What can I say? I can impulse buy with the best of them. That tin? Put it in the cart before even thinking about it. Here is what is going to be strange about this review. I am going to give this blend a good review, and I didn't even like it. Bear with me here.

This is an interesting blend. The description mentions alcohols and ginger and some other things. Upon opening the tin, I am hit with a scrumptious smell. This smell was so familiar for me that I racked my brain for a while trying to figure it out, and it came to me. The tin note of this blend smells EXACTLY like Panettone. Like spot on. Such a good smell.

I was surprised to see that this smell did not come with the usual sticky goop of an aromatic of this nature. In fact, while a bit moist, this blend is perfectly smokeable from the tin, an oddity. Mostly a ribbon cut with some big chunky black cavendish pieces. Here is the thing, I did not like the taste. There was something there that did not sit right with me. I could not pick it out individually. It could have been the ginger addition in this blend, not sure, but there was a sourish flavor that made me wonder if something had gone off a little. So why the three star review?

Well, taste is very individual, and I am sure for many this will be a scrumptious aromatic. Here is what it not individual, the behavior of the tobacco itself. When I bought this blend, I expected the same results I always get from these tobaccos. The description sounds amazing, the result is anything but. For an aromatic, this performs unbelievably well. It is not sticky or goopy. It stays lit very well for this class of tobacco, and instead of just warm steam, there is real flavor here, and some of it does resemble the tin note. You cannot ask more than that from an aromatic. The taste may not have been to my personal liking, but I can say, this is an excellent performing tobacco, in a class that is sometimes known for poor performance. Hats off to the folks at C&D, and give this one a try, you may love it.

ok. tin note is pleasant with a faint citrus/vanilla. tasting I get no orange. a little alcohol with a bite of ginger on the taste buds. a bit of a numbing effect. the perique lends to the spice. the Virginia is at the front. as with any aromatic the cavendish carries the topping/flavor. moisture is about right. not gooey. overall, a pleasant smoke. smooth and a very pleasant room note.

The tin note is orange liqueur. Sweet smelling tobacco that’s moderately moist but not sticky. Smells lovely in the tin. No dry time, fresh tin, smoked it right away.

First flavors after lighting it is orange. A testy sweet orange flavor. The Virginias are tart, bready, the cavendish is sweet and sugary. I don’t taste a lot of perique, maybe the topping hides it a bit, but it adds some bass notes, dried fruit flavors, and some tingle on the retrohale. There’s some baking spice notes too, maybe it’s the ginger. The topping is nice and stays half way though the bowl. After that I was left with a pleasant but average bowl of tobacco. I enjoyed it and spent more time chit chatting and enjoying the bowl then writing a review. A good holiday aromatic your company will surely be happy with the smell of and you’ll enjoy the Virginia perique flavors.

Tin note is orange, spice and a little sour. A mix of ribbon cut and rough cut. After lighting, there’s an orange peel flavor (maybe the orange liquor and ginger combined?), either way no liquor detected, earthy, a bit of pepper on the retro hale, mildly sweet, mildly grassy, occasionally floral. The strength mild until the bottom 3rd, steps up to medium. the flavors are mild throughout. The lack of sweetness was surprising given the tin note. After taste isn’t unpleasant, room note got no complaints either (I’m not supposed to smoke in the house, but this got no complaints from the wife.)